Tay has been playing baseball every summer except one since he was 5 years old. During those years, his shoe size has gone from a size 1 boys to a size 6 in mens. Yikes! His foot is bigger than mine! He's also gone from being a lightweight to weighing in at just under 90 pounds. He is solid. I can't pick him up anymore, but he can me. How things have changed! 
He loves the game. The one season he had to miss because we were moving from Cleveland to Idaho, and missed the sign-ups. He was a little nervous about having not played in so long, but didn't take long to get right back into his game.
He loves the game. The one season he had to miss because we were moving from Cleveland to Idaho, and missed the sign-ups. He was a little nervous about having not played in so long, but didn't take long to get right back into his game.This year his team's name was the LONGHORNS...and they were a great team! They only lost one game the entire season...and won the championship game by making some great plays. I think this was the first year of Tay's baseball career where we saw the boys really making some great baseball plays, where we saw all the fundamentals making sense and transposing into some good ball. It was fun to watch.
Tay has played 1st base, pitcher, and short stop out in Cleveland. This year, Andy asked him to try playing Catcher. 
Wow. As a mom, I have to say that Catcher is such a fun position to watch! Every game I knew just where to sit so that I could have a great vantage point of my boy the entire game, that was nice. 
Wow. As a mom, I have to say that Catcher is such a fun position to watch! Every game I knew just where to sit so that I could have a great vantage point of my boy the entire game, that was nice. Tay was outstanding. He got so that he could read what the players were going to do, and if they tried to steal a base he would catch that ball and let it fly over to 2nd base or 3rd and threw a lot of outs throughout the season that way. 
It was also fun to watch him fake a runner out. If they looked like they were itching to run, he'd catch the ball and then fake a throw to 2nd just to psyche them out. It just made me laugh. 
After a few games, he let me in on a little secret that most of the time, he could figure out a base coach's "steal" sign by the middle of the inning, and so then he'd just watch the coach for that sign and immediately throw it over to the base for an out. Andy and I both laughed, and then cautioned him about that technique, reminding him that coaches can change signals mid-game.
It was also fun to watch him fake a runner out. If they looked like they were itching to run, he'd catch the ball and then fake a throw to 2nd just to psyche them out. It just made me laugh. After a few games, he let me in on a little secret that most of the time, he could figure out a base coach's "steal" sign by the middle of the inning, and so then he'd just watch the coach for that sign and immediately throw it over to the base for an out. Andy and I both laughed, and then cautioned him about that technique, reminding him that coaches can change signals mid-game. This year was also a great season because Andy had time to coach. Wow, that has been a while since he's had any free time to spend with family! We thoroughly enjoyed it. Tay had three great coaches, and I know he enjoyed having his dad as one of them.
Another of my favorite things this season was to hear Taylor cheering his pitcher on. Pitcher is such a tough mental position, and I loved it when Tay could see that his pitcher was tiring, or becoming unconfident or unfocused, and so Tay would start saying things like, "You can do it!" or "It's okay, let that one go!" It was great to watch him and his pitcher work as a unit.
Another of my favorite things this season was to hear Taylor cheering his pitcher on. Pitcher is such a tough mental position, and I loved it when Tay could see that his pitcher was tiring, or becoming unconfident or unfocused, and so Tay would start saying things like, "You can do it!" or "It's okay, let that one go!" It was great to watch him and his pitcher work as a unit.This season was also a little tricky because both Rachel and Brooklynn were in spring soccer, so I was juggling the three kids to their different practices and games. There were some days where they would overlap and have to be to two different locations. Wow. But we survived, and somehow were all able to cheer and support one another!
I think that Matthew's favorite part of baseball was sitting on the lawn mower that's used to condition the field. He would sit on it for most of the game (which almost always lasted over two hours). He called it "the tractor." As long as he had a tractor and food...he was happy. 
Rachey was my big helper, she would help keep an eye on Matthew and Brooklynn so that I could watch the game... Brooklynn loves meeting new friends, and this little girl was so cute. I just loved her, she would come over and spend nearly the entire game with Lainah and the snacks, or Brooklynn. She was cute. 
and Lainah would keep me company in her stroller...which she sometimes didn't appreciate all too much. 
We bought a lot of snack food from Costco during the months of April-July. We also bought a lot of cheese pizza, and gum, and sunflower seeds. We kept Costco in business there for a while.
Rachey was my big helper, she would help keep an eye on Matthew and Brooklynn so that I could watch the game... Brooklynn loves meeting new friends, and this little girl was so cute. I just loved her, she would come over and spend nearly the entire game with Lainah and the snacks, or Brooklynn. She was cute. and Lainah would keep me company in her stroller...which she sometimes didn't appreciate all too much. We bought a lot of snack food from Costco during the months of April-July. We also bought a lot of cheese pizza, and gum, and sunflower seeds. We kept Costco in business there for a while.One of Tay's best buddies from school came to watch the championship game, and Tay was so happy to have Carson there watching. 
Here's Tay getting his medal from Coach Lott. 
Friends are the BEST!!!
GO LONGHORNS!!!
Here's Tay getting his medal from Coach Lott. Friends are the BEST!!!GO LONGHORNS!!!
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